Economy the play 7,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
258 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 7,500 economy — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator samples the same seat at 3,000 — ₹2,400 of Maharaja Points against ₹7,500 of Aeroplan — but that is an estimate off a programme with no published chart, so the crown stays here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 3,750 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 7,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 18,750 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Air India mainline nonstop, plus Air India Express on the same pair — both redeemable with Maharaja Points
Air IndiaAir India Express
Cut 40% in April 2026 — the full pull prints "ATQ,DEL, old 5,000-6,500, new 3,000-9,000" — and 3,000 is the Value floor. ₹2,400 of Maharaja Points against a ₹3-5k cash fare on an hour-long sector, one of the three cheapest domestic cells this desk holds. Air India Express flies Delhi from Amritsar as well and its seats have been redeemable with Maharaja Points since 21-May-2026. Government taxes and passenger service fees are cash on top.
Estimate Air India publishes no award chart. Its own Points Calculator states that “Fares indicated above are dependent on the time of booking and seat availability”, and Maharaja Club prices every award either as a Value fare (the discounted rate for booking well in advance) or as a higher Prime fare closer to departure. This number is the Value-fare floor as sampled after the April-2026 repricing — not a published chart cell: Value space is not always available on a given flight, and the same seat prices higher once it is gone. Pricing model re-verified against Air India’s Maharaja Club T&C and Points Calculator on 2026-08-09.
Feed it: 3,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 1,500 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 3,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)
IndiGo nonstop — BluChip, dynamic (revenue-priced)
IndiGo
IndiGo flies Amritsar-Delhi into both Delhi fields, but BluChip has no award chart — redemptions track the live fare at a dynamic ₹0.40-0.60 per BluChip, minimum 500, and BluChips cannot cover taxes or convenience fees. On a corridor where the house chart sells the same seat for 3,000 points, this is strictly the weaker plan.
Estimate IndiGo BluChip is a revenue-linked rupee offset worth ~Rs0.50/BluChip (Card Insider pegs Rs0.40-0.60, 500 BluChip minimum, and states the value “is dynamic”); this row divides a typical one-way IndiGo economy fare for a ~258 mi domestic sector by Rs0.50, on the same fare-per-mile ladder every other BluChip row on this board reads. There is no chart: it moves 1:1 with the live fare.
Feed it: 10,500 HSBC Reward Points (1.5:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL)) · 35,000 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:1) · 21,000 HDFC Reward Points (3:1 via Accor Live Limitless (ALL))
Business the play 12,500 pts Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance partner award)
Air India Star Alliance
258 great-circle miles sits inside Aeroplan's 0-1,000-mile Within-Atlantic band, whose published “All other partners” cell is 12,500 business — read first-hand off Air Canada's own Flight Reward Chart PDF on 2026-08-29, page “Within Atlantic zone”. Air India is one of those partners: it is a Star Alliance member on fixed-price partner metal, not one of the Select carriers Aeroplan prices dynamically. Air India's own calculator samples the same seat at 12,000 — ₹9,600 of Maharaja Points against ₹12,500 of Aeroplan — but that is an estimate off a programme with no published chart, so the crown stays here. Watch the band edge — a connecting itinerary that flies past 1,000 miles lands in the 1,001-2,000-mile band at 15,000 / 22,500, and Aeroplan bands the distance actually FLOWN, not the great circle. A flat CA$39 partner booking fee applies per ticket.
Feed it: 6,250 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,500 SBI Travel Credits (1:1) · 31,250 Axis EDGE Reward Points (5:2)
Business ~12,000 pts est. Air India mainline nonstop (Star Alliance), Value tier — Air India Express has no business cabin
Air India Star Alliance
Cut 33.3%, 18,000 → 12,000, which drops it under Aeroplan's floor cell by 500 points and ₹2,900 — the second of the two cells in this wave where the house chart beats the Canadian one outright. It is still an estimate: Air India publishes no chart, this is a sampled Value fare, and Value space is not always there. Note the metal — Air India Express carries no business cabin, so mainline is the only aeroplane this cell buys.
Estimate Air India publishes no award chart. Its own Points Calculator states that “Fares indicated above are dependent on the time of booking and seat availability”, and Maharaja Club prices every award either as a Value fare (the discounted rate for booking well in advance) or as a higher Prime fare closer to departure. This number is the Value-fare floor as sampled after the April-2026 repricing — not a published chart cell: Value space is not always available on a given flight, and the same seat prices higher once it is gone. Pricing model re-verified against Air India’s Maharaja Club T&C and Points Calculator on 2026-08-09.
Feed it: 12,000 IndusInd Reward Points (1:1) · 6,000 Axis EDGE Miles (1:2) · 12,000 ICICI Reward Points (1:1)